BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — An attorney for Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly told the state Supreme Court on Saturday that a Republican-dominated legislative panel exceeded its authority when it overturned the Democratic governor’s executive order banning religious and funeral services of more than 10 people during the coronavirus pandemic.
Click here to watch a replay of the oral arguments.
Lawmakers countered that the language in a resolution they contend gave the panel that authority was a compromise reached with Kelly and was intended as a check on her power at a time when the full Legislature couldn’t meet because of virus concerns.
The hearing, which was the court’s first conducted completely via video conferencing, came one day before Easter, which is typically the busiest day on the Christian calendar in terms of church attendance.
“In this time of crisis, the question before the court is whether a seven-member legislative committee has the power to overrule the governor. The answer is no,” said Clay Britton, chief counsel for the governor.
During an emergency, the governor can only be overruled by the Legislature as a whole acting on a resolution voted on by all 165 of its members, he argued.
Attorneys for the lawmakers, though, said the court should consider that the resolution that gave the panel its authority was a compromise meant to give legislative oversight at a time when the full Legislature couldn’t meet.
“You will recall this was a time everybody was trying to skedaddle as fast as they could from the Statehouse because of the pandemic concerns,” said attorney Brad Schlozman.
The justices said they would confer right after the arguments were presented and would try to reach a decision quickly.
Both sides agree that worshipers should avoid gathering in large groups to avoid the risk of spreading the coronavirus. Many churches have been conducting services online for weeks, and none have publicly announced plans to reopen their doors to worshippers.
The legal issue at stake concerns how far the Legislature can go in delegating it’s power to another group, in this case, the Legislative Coordinating Council, which is made up of the top four House leaders and top three Senate leaders. Five of the seven members are Republicans.
Lawmakers gave the council the right to review Kelly’s executive orders and to overturn many of them within days. Conservative Republicans were upset with an order from Kelly to close K-12 schools for the rest of the spring semester and wanted to block her from using sweeping gubernatorial powers granted to deal with short-term disasters.
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state grew Saturday by 102, to 1,268. Kansas also reported five more deaths, bringing the total to 55.
The state has identified four outbreaks stemming from religious gatherings.
The hearing came one day before Easter, and the justices said they would confer immediately after arguments were presented to try to come to a quick ruling.
-------
Starting at 9a.m. Saturday, the Kansas Supreme Court, in a time of quarantine, heard arguments in Gov. Laura Kelly’s lawsuit against legislative leaders who overturned her executive order banning religious services of more than 10 attendees during the coronavirus pandemic.
Click here to watch (The oral arguments ended just before 10:30a.m.) Chief Justice Marla Luckert said the court hoped to have a decision sometime Saturday.
The Kansas Supreme Court has offered livestreamed oral arguments since 2012, but set a record Saturday with over 2400 viewers, according to the court. The previous high was in the hundreds.
The governor filed the lawsuit Thursday after a Republican-dominated legislative panel overturned her order.
Kelly and the panel generally agree that worshipers should stay home and watch livestreamed religious services during the pandemic, but they disagree on whether the state has the constitutional authority to order it. Kelly pointed to three religious gatherings that led to outbreaks of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.